Thoughts From the Koopalings
by The Dooms
Summary: The Koopalings have been with their King Dad since the beginning, but how do they feel about their father, the princess, and Mario, among others? Koopaling character study. Updated rarely, but WILL update.
1. The Pompous Prodigy

_A/N: So, in between chapters of EggFox Empire (which I'm currently having some trouble in), a plot bunny entered my head, and with the Koopalings return in Mario Kart 8, I think I'd like to explore these characters and their opinions on things in the Mario World. So here we go, staring out with Ludwig Von Koopa, the oldest, but not my personal favorite. Here we go!_

KOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGS

Ludwig Von Koopa (yes his middle name really was Von) frowned as he stared at his notes. The koopaling shoved the parchment to the side. An oddly contemplative mood had struck him, interrupting his thoughts whenever he tried to put quill to paper to produce his next masterpiece. He slowly looked around his room in the Darklands palace.

Ludwig's room was bright, but not cheery, every flat surface except for his beloved grand piano was absolutely covered in parchment filled with notes about music. Some of his pieces reflected his mood at the time, but the young Koopaling rarely felt this...introspective. As he found his mind wandering to odd topics.

He was in line to be king when he had first been hatched to his "King Dad" Bowser and their mother. Contrary to popular belief, Queen Clawdia Koopa had laid seven eggs at once, a rarity to be sure. And he had been the first to hatch, and after his other six siblings had done so as well, they had been told that Ludwig Von Koopa was to be the next king. A part of him always wondered what his fellows had thought of it, but he slowly realized, from being taught how to do it, that being royalty wasn't really his place. He relished the opportunity to read and study, and especially found music calming to his senses, and as he watched his father run his kingdom, go to meetings, and kidnap a certain blonde princess, he realized that he wasn't really cut out for such a thing. And he told his father as such.

Bowser, for his part simply laughed and said that Ludwig could do whatever he wanted, heck, all of the Koopalings could. That had been a fresh sigh of relief, for everyone involved, and Ludwig began to study music full-time. He had only realized the meaning behind his father's words when Junior had appeared.

He thought for a moment to that tumultuous time. The press had a field day with the reveal of Bowser's heir, and many thought that a certain blonde princess was the mother. Those rumors were stomped immediately by the King, and simply stated that Junior was his heir, and would be groomed as such. The press had asked him for his opinion, being the former heir, but he simply responded with a shrug, and said that it freed up more time for his true passion.

And so, it seemed that a new chapter in the story had unfolded. Junior, while being groomed to be the prince, was much different than the Koopalings, loving the joy of conquering and kidnapping, and when he got his hands on that paintbrush, he was finally allowed to kidnap the princess when she was on vacation. After that fiasco, the Koopalings had developed enough, that they too wanted to join in the fun. Even the normally quiet Lemmy wanted to go another round with the plumber. And so the family was reunited after so long.

Every Koopaling had something they were good at. Ludwig was a master composer, songwriter, and conductor, for instance. He also had great talent in ancient koopa magic, a few handy tricks he owed to his father and Kamek's teachings, and perfect for fighting overall-clad italian plumbers.

But his true passion would always be music. The swell of the crescendo, the instruments moving in harmony...it was heaven to him. Oftentimes he had such passion while playing that his rather voluminous blue hair would become frazzled and haggard, a true disconnect from his usual calm and composed self. But that was what his music did to him, he supposed. His symphonies were renowned in all the Darklands, although he couldn't exactly tell if that was because of his royal blood or if his musical talent was just that good. The Mushroom Kingdom also aired his symphonies, although he used a psuedonym. The Koopaling in him enjoyed hearing the critics praise the son of their greatest enemy. It was a guilty pleasure but it still made him smile every time he heard it.

Unlike many of his siblings, Ludwig had actually known his "Queen Mom" although not for very long. He was barely Bowser Junior's age when she had been taken from this world. He remembered his father frowning a lot, only smiling when he interacted with his children, or when he was out conquering.

And then he tried to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time, kidnapping their princess and turning the toads to stone with dark magic, and it had been like a switch was flipped, at least, from Ludwig's point of view. He remembered his father returning from his defeat angry at being defeated by a small italian plumber of all things, but also with an odd faraway look in his eye.

Since then, the repeated kidnappings were less about the kingdom and more about them. Them being Mario, Peach, and King Dad himself. Ludwig simmered over this thought for a moment. In a way, the way events planned out was like an intricate waltz. An intricate waltz so delicate, that to upset the balance would be like taking a hammer to the ankle. Inspired, he reached for a fresh sheet of parchment and ink.

He knew the events of almost every adventure by heart. The beginning, where the koopalings, or Bowser himself, would go kidnap the princess, and the plumbers would come. Obstacles, battles, and one very angry, but defeated, Koopa King later, the princess was saved, the plumber went home, and the process started all over again. A song could repeat, and most in the 'popular' category were expected to, but with this, it was like a record being skipped upon by a needle.

Like all the Koopalings, Ludwig did one day hope that the princess would open her heart to his father, but judging by the tones Bowser used to describe the few times he worked together with Mario and Peach, that day wasn't so far off.

Ludwig's scratchings and philosophical thoughts would continue into morning, when his door was opened by the wise old Magikoopa Kamek. "And what piece is the great composer working on now?"

The koopaling jumped in his seat and turned to face the koopa that had practically raised eight (nine if you counted Junior, although Bowser had been a bit more active in his development) Koopalings, including their own father Bowser, almost as if they were his own. In a way, they were. Kamek had been Bowser's royal advisor for decades, almost since Bowser was hatched, and he had done the same for them since their mother left them, almost like a grandfather.

"...A gift, Kamek." Ludwig said simply, resuming his scratchings. "I will descend to breakfast in a moment, I am on the verge of unravelling a truly inspirational event." The grin on Ludwig's face was unmistakable, and the crotchety old magikoopa couldn't help but roll his eyes at the eldest son's obsession with music.

"Got a title for this event?" He said cheekily, and for a moment, Ludwig looked up at him in annoyance. To Ludwig, titles were for stories. Titles told you exactly how you should feel about the content. But then, his expression softened.

"Actually, yes, I do." Ludwig smirked as he finished his scratchings and put the quill back in the inkwell with a flourish. "I call it, 'The Endless Waltz'."

KOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGSKOOPALINGS

_A/N: And there's Ludwig! I'll be doing all 8 Koopalings eventually, and I'll be coming back to certain Koopalings in the future, if there's demand and I can come up with plot ideas. I have no idea who's next, really, since all of the Koopalings intrigue me. See you next time!_

_The Dooms, signing off!_


	2. The Laughing Prankster

Princess Peach. The eternal puzzle.

And one Iggy Koopa was desperate to solve.

The well-known mad genius of the Koopalings, Iggy was attracted to things he couldn't quite understand. And beyond all the technology he had created, from the airships that could escape gravity's iron grip and travel into space, to the very anti-gravity engine in the rocket-shaped motorcycle he was currently buffing, there was one thing that had always eluded the grasp of his highly gifted analytical mind. One Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach.

Not why she wasn't exactly reciprocative of his father's advances, **stars **no. That much was obvious. His King Dad, though he'd never say this aloud, was a massive egomaniac and didn't have any concept of what made a proper romance. Bursting in and kidnapping the woman you're infatuated with wasn't a proper courting technique.

No, what stumped this green-haired Koopaling was the monarch's tolerance of the continued abductions. It's always been obvious, since the whole Smithy incident where their father had had to go on an adventure with Peach and a Star Spirit and some other guy named Mallow, that Peach had awesome power. Mostly supportive magic, like healing, but she could also make people fall asleep, and that frying pan of hers wasn't to be underestimated. She could use things like Fire Flowers, Super Bells, and Tanooki Leaves without any notable effort, and was a capable adventurer in her own right, as seen during the Vibe Scepter and Sprixie Kingdom incidents.

So why didn't she fight back? Iggy momentarily forgot about preparing his beloved bike for the races as he scratched his chin in deep thought. It couldn't have been returning the affection in her own odd way. Peach was quite clear whenever Bowser hatched a scheme and took her from her home that she was not speaking to him, and would only speak to servants or the Koopalings themselves if they were around. Junior seemed to be her favorite to talk to, but that didn't say much.

Peach's magic was powerful. _Peach_ was powerful. She could hold her own in any real fight. But her power came from her pure heart, as many villains could attest to. Perhaps this was her attempt to make her father 'see the light' as it were...No, otherwise she would attempt to engage with him more. Get him to open up about more than just some oddball scheme to take over the Kingdom. Indeed it seemed to Iggy that Princess Peach was mostly unaware of Bowser's feelings.

And then there were the plumbers. Iggy's expression soured as his buffing slowed, his Jet Bike already shining like new as he stared into the reflection, lost in his thoughts. Mario and Luigi, heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom. Iggy scoffed at the thought. Though a formidable opponent indeed, Iggy had no doubt that the Princess could handle herself possibly better than Mario could against the might of the Koopa Troop. While they were acrobatic and their skill with those hammers was not to be trifled with, the Princess could likely compensate for such shortcomings with her magic, as the Koopa King himself could likely attest to.

This conundrum had haunted the Koopaling genius for years, since he could first understand that it _was _a conundrum, in fact. It was an utter paradox, and he hated those. Some days she let Bowser take her, and there was no other phrase for it, _let _him take her. And then there was those other times, when Peach, on more than once occasion, had simply used her magic or strengthened another into simply swatting him into the sky.

Before Iggy knew it, an empty blueprint sheet was filled with wild theories, some barely legible, as his mind worked a mile a minute to find the missing link, the one thing that actually made sense in this fiendish dynamic between the Princess and the King.

There were too many inconsistencies. One day the princess screamed for help as the Plumber and the King clashed. On another they were all too happy to invite him racing, or golfing. On others, they worked together to fight a common villain, sometimes willingly, like the Smithy incident, sometimes not, such as the Fawful incident, which was the most bizarre in the young Koopaling's mind.

After discovering that the Mario Brothers had been assisting him in secret throughout his entire adventure, the boisterous koopa king had not taken it well, and had started a fight, which, logically, had not gone well. As the grumpy, injured Bowser recovered, he had gotten a package. A cake.

That cake...It burned at the forefront of Iggy's mind. Was the Princess daft to send a gift to her nation's most hated enemy? Was this a hint to her true intentions? Did it have any meaning at all? All these questions swirled in Iggy's mind, even as he felt his consciousness slip away.

"Yo, Iggs." The green koopaling snapped awake as his brother Roy spoke. The musclebound brother gave Iggy his glasses, and the mad prankster thankfully placed them back on his head. "We're getting loaded up for the races. King Dad says you better be well-rested, or at least awake enough to fake it." And with that, he left.

Iggy sighed and rubbed his forehead. He really needed to stop overdoing it. This...puzzle was beginning to give him a headache. As he headed for the kitchen to eat some breakfast, leaving the heavily-scribbled on blueprint behind.

The mad Koopaling had only one thought on the matter, even hours later as he revved up his bike, Peach in her delicate Cat Cruiser and Bowser on his Flame Rider ahead of him. Throughout the entire grand race through the Kongo Jungle, his eyes never left his father and the Princess, watching every one of their interactions.

Even as the race was over and the next one was scheduled and once again, Iggy was left alone in the garage to fine tune the vehicles of his family, he still was no closer to figuring it out. And that frustrated the spikes off his shell.

This was one puzzle even he couldn't figure out so easily, not when the Princess made it so darn difficult.


End file.
